World Concern worker dies in plane crash.

Uzbekistan (MNN) — The Christian relief and development world is in mourning today following a plane crash in Uzbekistan.

An airliner was making its second attempt to land in heavy fog when it crashed just short of the runway, killing all 37 people on board. Among the victims, World Concern’s Afghanistan Director Richard Penner.

Four foreigners were among the passengers on the Uzbekistan Airways Flight that crashed Tuesday evening. They were Richard Conroy, a British-Australian citizen who headed the U.N. mission to Uzbekistan; Richard Penner, a Canadian and director in Afghanistan of the U.S.-based World Concern humanitarian organization; and two Afghan businessmen.

Penner “was a great man; we are all going to miss him much,” said Glen Garner, finance director for World Concern in Uzbekistan.

Security officers at the crash scene said heavy fog kept the plane from landing on its first try, and that it missed the landing strip when it tried again.

There was no evidence of terrorism and that a special government commission would investigate the accident.